Your guide to Rugby Memorabilia

Of the two main codes of rugby, Rugby Union memorabilia remains the most popular in the majority of rugby playing countries apart from Australia where Rugby League memorabilia is more popular.

Most people believe rugby started when William Webb-Ellis picked up a football in 1823 and ran with it, at Rugby School, Rugby, England, hence the name of the sport. Although this tale is likely to be apocryphal, the trophy played for every four years at the Rugby World Cup is named after him.

The code of football later known as Rugby Union can be traced to three events: the first set of written laws in 1845; the Blackheath Club's decision to leave the The Football Association in 1863 and; the formation of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The code was originally known simply as "rugby football"; it was not until a schism, in 1895, which resulted in the separate code of rugby league, that the name "rugby union" was used for the game itself.